§ 14. Commander Purseyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the progress made by the Hull and East Yorkshire River Board in causing deficient wharves on the River Hull to be raised to prevent flooding, in the four months since the serious flooding in Hull at the March equinoctial high tide; and what progress is expected to be made in the next two months before the September equinoctial high water spring tides.
Mr. VaneSo far the Hull Corporation has served twenty-one notices on the owners of those wharves which do not measure up to the requirements of the Hull Corporation Act of 1925. I am given to understand that a further list is being prepared and that it is hoped to cover all deficient wharves before September.
§ Commander PurseyWhat information should I give to hundreds of my poor constituents who are flooded out about the time of the September equinoctial high tides? Should I advise hundreds of husbands to stay at home and 584 look after their houses and furniture, and so handicap trains, buses and other essential services? Does the Parliamentary Secretary think it funny for a shipyard worker to come home by the upstairs bedroom window and to find his wife and children paddling in 3 ft. of flood water in the kitchen? When are we going to stop that?
Mr. VaneThe hon. and gallant Member's constituents would get a lot of formation if he let them have copies of the Answers to the 20-odd Questions which I have answered on this subject in the House over the last few weeks. I have tried to cover every aspect of the various points which he has raised.
§ 15. Commander Purseyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is to be taken by the Hull and East Yorkshire River Board to ensure that, in future, red flood warnings are given in Hull before flooding from the River Hull, and that amber warnings are not given in Hull for warnings intended to be restricted to other divisions; and which officer is to be the local technical officer responsible for the decision to issue a warning after consideration of local conditions of tide, wind and flood water.
Mr. VaneThe Ministry is responsible for the east coast flood warning system. Flood warnings are given to the police and river boards and local flood warnings to the general public are issued by the police, after consultation with the river board, where necessary, about local conditions.
§ Commander PurseyIs the Minister aware that on the night when the false amber warning was given I was in Hull and on the river? Why should hundreds of my poor constituents be kept up after midnight, taking up their carpets and putting their furniture in boxes unnecessarily, for a false amber warning which should never have been given? Why cannot the title be given, if not the name, of the official responsible for giving the red warning, and stop false warnings in Hull, in view of the fact that no one in Hull knows who it is, not even the police, who have to promulgate the information?
Mr. VaneThere could not be a red warning in the summer because the warning system does not operate in that 585 way during the summer months. Neither my right lion. Friend nor I can accept responsibility for rumours which may have been circulating in Hull. I sympathise with people who have been suffering from floods, and I recognise that when high water conditions are likely they feel a certain sense of alarm. But no warning was issued on that day, and I cannot accept responsibility for rumours.
§ Mr. PagetAre we not only not to have flood prevention but not even to have flood warnings during the period in which the affluent society is suspended?